Doomtree – Beacon Video

Official video for the Doomtree track ‘Beacon‘, directed by Bo Hakala.

Yellowcard – Always Summer Video

Official video for the Yellowcard track ‘Always Summer‘.

Blink-182, The All-American Rejects, Four Year Strong @ The O2 Arena, Friday 8th June 2012

Up first was Four Year Strong, a band that I first became fully familiar with in 2007 when they released their ‘Rise or Die Trying‘ album through I Surrender Records. It was actually through their cover of Blink-182′s ‘Dumpweed‘ that I heard them for the very first time however, so it raised a smile for me to now be seeing them supporting the band they once covered. Whilst I’ve never been the biggest fan of Four Year Strong, the various times I’ve seen them here in the UK they’ve always put on a decent, energetic show, and this evening was no different. Being the first support, the band only had time to play 7 tracks in total, it was a well chosen set however and one that seemed to go down well with those in attendance. The majority of those in attendance were only really there to see one band, but Four Year Strong did a decent job nonetheless of warming the crowd and getting them ready for the next act to take to the stage, The All-American Rejects.

Launching straight into ‘Dirty Little Secret‘, it was clear that The All-American Rejects’ set was going to be a high energy affair with Tyson Ritter clearly delighted to be supporting Blink-182 at such an impressive venue in the English capital. Perhaps a little overexcited at times as he began insulting those in the box seats and branded a group of girls in bunny suits ‘sluts’, Tyson Ritter was nonetheless a very charismatic and entertaining frontman as he bounced his way around the stage. His banter with the crowd might not have gone down too well with some, personally I found him amusing however, his energy and enthusiasm on the stage was contagious, and all in all he made sure that there was never a dull moment with The All-American Rejects’ set. All four of the band’s albums were represented with the set, there was a good spread of the band’s music both new and old, and whilst the main event was still yet to come; The All-American Rejects made sure that the evening continued to run smoothly. Closing track ‘Gives You Hell‘ seemed to go down particularly well, as did taking things back a decade with 2002s ‘Swing Swing‘. All in all a top notch set from a band with four great album’s under its belt.

So now it was time for the band that 20,000 people had all been patiently waiting for; Blink-182. Was the band going to be able to live up to expectation, or were we all to be left bitterly disappointed? I’m happy to reveal that Blink-182 put on an absolutely brilliant show. After the band went on hiatus in 2005, and last year’s tour was put on hold for a year (as well as the band having to pull out of Bamboozle just prior to this UK tour), I’m sure there were many fans that wondered if we’d ever get another chance to see Blink-182 live in the UK, I know I certainly did; thankfully we have had another chance though and the band was able to put to bed our fears in its 20th year after first forming.

Opening with ‘Feeling This‘, there was an instant burst of excitement from the crowd as Blink-182 got their show underway. Instantly we were taken back to 2003, and what a beautiful moment it was too. The All-American Rejects had already set a pretty high benchmark of intensity to live up to, Blink-182 more than matched it however as they crunched through tracks from all 6 of their albums. ‘Carousel‘ was the soul representative from the band’s ‘Cheshire Cat‘ debut album, whilst ‘Josie‘ and ‘Dammit‘ were the only tracks on display from ‘Dude Ranch‘, whilst the emphasis was more on the material from the band’s newer albums however, it was good to see that the older albums weren’t completely forgotten about and did in fact hold a special place in the set with ‘Carousel‘ and ‘Dammit‘ both being included in the encore.

There was particular emphasis on 2011s ‘Neighborhoods‘ as 5 of the band’s 23 tracks were lifted from this later album, a potential drawback for older fans not particularly familiar/fond of Blink 182′s newest material, having been a huge fan of the band’s latest release I was more than happy to hear these tracks present in the set,  and felt that all 5 of the tracks came across well live. There were of course a few tracks from Blink’s back-catalogue that I’d like to have seen in the set that weren’t included, having listened to all of the band’s albums heavily over the years however, Blink-182 probably would have had to have played all night to have fully satisfied my cravings.

All in all, Blink-182 put on an absolutely incredible show at the O2 Arena, and I for one am very much glad that I took up the opportunity to see the band there in 2012. Mark and Tom were funny, had good crowd interaction between tracks, and there’s not a lot more that they could have done to have made the evening any better (besides play all of their albums in their entirety). Both of Travis Barker’s drum solo’s certainly impressed, and as one of my main musical inspirations growing up, it was brilliant to see him still tearing into his drumkit as ferociously as ever and no doubt inspiring the next generation of drummers. It may be 20 years since Blink-182 first formed, and they may all have other projects on the go now as well as being in Blink-182, but this is a band that is still going strong, and they’re showing on this tour that six albums in and countless tours later; Blink-182 is still a band with an awful lot to give.

See you all again at the Brixton Academy next month!

Bowling For Soup Announce 30th UK Tour

Bowling For Soup will be hitting the UK in October to embark upon their 30th UK tour to date.

The band will be supported by The Dollyrots and Patent Pending, however contrary to usual touring trends where London is included whilst other towns and cities are omitted from the schedule, Bowling For Soup will not actually be hitting London on this tour due to their playing the Vans Warped Tour at Alexandra Palace on November 10th. So if you live in/around London and you’re wanting to see Bowling For Soup in 2012, this will be the place to see them.

The following is a full list of the dates that Bowling For Soup is all set to play this October:

14 Oct – O2 Academy – Newcastle

15 Oct – O2 ABC – Glasgow

16 Oct – O2 Academy – Liverpool

17 Oct – Mandella Hall – Belfast

18 Oct – The Academy – Dublin

19 Oct – O2 Academy – Leeds

20 Oct – Manchester Academy – Manchester

21 Oct – Picturedrome – Holmfirth

22 Oct – 53 Degrees – Preston

23 Oct – UEA – Norwich

24 Oct – O2 Academy – Birmingham

25 Oct – Rock City – Nottingham

26 Oct – O2 Academy – Bristol

27 Oct – O2 Academy – Oxford

28 Oct – Corn Exchange – Cambridge

Calexico to Release New Album in September

Arizonan rock band Calexico is to release a brand new studio album on September 10th 2012.

‘Algiers‘ will be the band’s sixth studio album to date, and will be released through ANTI in the United States.

Joey Burns had the following to say about the band’s decision to record the album in New Orleans:

We were talking about wanting to go to Europe and record, but we never get our stuff together in time to make plans that far in advance. So where do you go that is nearby and has a European feel? New Orleans.

GHXST UK Tour

New York grunge trio GHXST will be hitting the UK later this month for a number of shows in London, Brighton, Reading, and Manchester.

If you’re not yet familiar with the music of GHXST, you can check out the band’s sound on their SoundCloud page where you’ll also currently find their track ‘Doomgirl‘ available for free download.

The following is a full list of the UK tour dates that the band is all set to play later this month:

JUNE
15th – DJ Set at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen w/ CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH, LONDON
16th – DJ Set at Topman OXFORD STREET
17th – Green Door Store, BRIGHTON
20th – The Old Blue Last, LONDON
21st – Kraak Gallery, MANCHESTER
22nd – Birthdays, LONDON
23rd – Oakford Social Club, READING